Month: May 2012

It’s a long holiday weekend in the UK and that can mean only one thing – it’s time to avoid DIY and that kind of soul-sucking stuff and leap wildly into the ready, saucy arms of music, books and films.

“The Dwarves” by Markus Heitz – no, that’s not my purse in the top right of the picture.

First up, Markus Heitz’s epic fantasy novel “The Dwarves”, which vaulted to the top of my reading list when I read that he was collaborating with Blind Guardian on the story for their next album. As I’m currently devouring Blind Guardian’s back catalogue at a rate of knots, this novel seemed like a no-brainer for me. 736 pages of adventure for foundling Dwarf Tungdil, whose solitary status in the land of men is challenged when he’s tasked to venture into a wider world and meet his own kind for the first time, finding himself thrust into dangers and a threat to his race quite unlike anything he’s ever known.

In short? European high fantasy – I’m all over it.

On a entirely related tip, cast your peepers over this duopoly of bad assery:

And, yes, you do score a multitude of Special Internet Points if you resisted the urge to look at either of the Blind Guardian CD cover artworks and yell “Tolkien“ at the top of your voice. Kudos to you!

The albums date from – consults Wikipedia discography – 1992 (“Somewhere Far Beyond”) and 1995 (“Imaginations From The Other Side“) and pre-date what is many fans favourite BG release, 1998’s concept-themed breakthrough album, “Nightfall in Middle-Earth“. Knock yourself out – yell “Tolkien” all you like when it comes to that record…

So, that’s my weekend – I may try to sneak in a viewing of “Night Watch”, too, as I’ve been reading the books – and I hope that yours is equally pleasant, be it spent with your family, friends or some combination thereof. Just remember – keep it geeky, peeps…

Frankly, what’s not to like? Erstwhile shredder and YouTuber ERock331 also does bad-ass covers of the themes from “Doctor Who“ (yes, yes – thrice YES!), “Back to the Future“ and other geek-friendly loveliness over on his YouTube channel and confirms his (newly-confirmed, by me) status as a gentleman, scholar and delightful nerd.

What a lovely name for a band – you could bring it home to meet your parents and everything. Ahem.

You can grab a track from the band by shamelessly hitching your e-mail address to their Tumblr blog and take in a sound which apparently skews more towards the likes of Slipknot than Bullet’s ‘crunchy old school riffs and massive choruses’ blueprint.

As a fan of both Bullet’s sing-along anthems (if not their frequently paint-strippingly bad lyrics) and Cancer Bats’ cheery punky abandon (go watch this glorious video for “Lucifer’s Rocking Chair”), I’m down with this side-project for Messrs Tuck and Cormier, albeit a little bemused how it fits into both groups’ touring plans for 2012, as both bands have albums out this year and now this side-project is in the mix, too.

Axe Wound are on for Download this June and some of the European summer festivals – who knows what lies beyond that?